Extra: Untold Stories And Hidden Dangers Of The Game Warden Service
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This is the Fox News Rundown Extra.

I'm Lisa Brady.

This week, retired Marine Staff Sergeant and Fox News contributor Joey Jones spoke with Jeremy Judd as part of our ongoing series looking at great Americans. Judd, a proud veteran of the Maine Warden Service, talks about his 20-plus years in service. And while game wardens may not get the notoriety of other first responders, he explained how they, too, put their lives in danger, many times working alongside police officers and others in life-and-death situations.

Judd also detailed how his years of responding to emergencies, searching for missing persons or tending to deadly accidents have taken a toll on him, impacting his personal life and leaving him with PTSD.

We made some edits for time and thought you might like to hear the whole conversation. So thanks for listening. And if you haven't already, please go to Fox News Rundown dot com to follow our daily weekday rundown podcast. Now here's retired Maine game warden Jeremy Judd with Joey Jones on the Fox News Rundown Extra.

Well, Jeremy, thanks for joining me. You know, you and I met on a hunt, actually, up in northern Maine. And you were not working as a game warden those days. You were helping carry me all across the swamps of Maine, which a lot of people probably don't even know that exists. And we just became good friends. So I just want to thank you and introduce you to the audience and talk a little bit about your experience, because I think it's something that most people don't really know about.

Absolutely. So for those that don't know, you're in my book, Behind the Badge, and your experiences of pretty much 20 years of being a game warden in Maine really...

really go into areas and places and parts of life and search and rescue that are hard for some people to understand you would do every single day. But if we take it all the way back to just what a game warden does, I think for me it's like, hey, they're the fun police. They stop you from spotlighting deer at night. But there's just so much more there, especially in Maine. I'd love for you to tell me about it.

There is, you know, I, you know, I was always referred to as the fun police, but I like to refer to us as the police officers of the woods and water. You know, if, if, you know, trouble leaves the pavement gets into the woods, we're usually called in for it. And, you know, as a young, young boy, I always dreamed of being a game warden and wanted to be, but I,

And you have this notion of what it is and stuff, and it wasn't even anything close to what I would have thought it would have been or what it was described to me. Right.

You know, we deal with a lot of tragedy and a lot of death. And I just remember talking to my mentor back when I was a young warden and telling him that no one ever told me I was going to deal with so many dead people. And so, you know, that's part of the, a big part of that job. You know, we do a lot of search and rescue. The beginning,

Beginning years of my career, I dove for the state of Maine and, you know, I recovered a lot of people. I did all the underwater photography for underwater crime scenes and stuff like that. And so I was involved with pretty much any disaster that happened on the water.

You know, I want to talk about the diving and some of the other stuff you did in a minute. But just to go back, you know, you made a statement that I think really encapsulates my curiosity, which is if it leaves the pavement alive.

You guys become a part of it. And, you know, in our interview for the book, he talks about how you guys go to, I believe it's the same academy as state police officers or at least some version. You're in an academy with guys and gals that will become police officers. So you learn the criminal justice side of the state law, becoming a game warden. And I think a lot of people don't make that connection. Like my idea of a game warden is you're enforcing law.

you know, natural resources, parks, hunting and fishing law. But really, if someone does something, say they, you know, rob a bunch of convenience stores and end up fleeing to the woods. Now you guys are a part of that. Why is that? Well, we are the experts in the woods. You know, we we are, you know, you're right. Just to back up a little bit. You know, we do go to what they call the main basic criminal justice academy. All law enforcement officers in the state go to that academy.

And when you're there, you're mixed in with everybody, you know, from town cops to county to state police to, you know, game wardens. Marine Patrol is another one that goes there. So so it's a big you know, you get pushed into this this school. It's 18 weeks long. They teach you all that stuff. But most where most police officers, they when they leave there, they go to their patrol areas and they go to work.

Um, game wardens, um, have to go to what we call the warden school, which is an additional 14 weeks of training. And that's, that's how to operate, you know, in the woods by yourself on the water, you know, we have to be experts, you know, to run snow machines, ATVs boats, you know, um, where we're doing all that stuff that, you know, isn't on, isn't on pavement. You know, we get, we get off that pavement. And, um, so when, um,

When, like you said, when bad stuff leaves the pavement, you know, that we usually get dragged in. And I remember pretty young in my career, we were a young lady was murdered. She was a Colby College student. And we got brought in to help search the woods for people.

for evidence and different things. And, and, and I was paired up with a, with a state police detective, senior officer, been, you know, with the state police for a long time. I thought very highly of them. And, you know, I remember we're walking down these railroad tracks and I look over into the woods and I said, Hey, there's a wallet laying over there. And, and he couldn't, he couldn't even understand how I could see that. And it was, and I just had to

I had to explain to them there's nothing rectangle or square like that in the woods. You know, so you pick that sort of stuff out. That's the eye we get. And, you know, and I quickly realized that, you know, through being on our canine team and doing article searches and all that stuff, there's a, you know, we take it for granted because it's what we live and do. But there is a real specialty to that and being able to help and assist people.

We may not be primary in all this stuff that happens in the woods, but we're quickly called in for our expertise.

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You know, I would imagine when you decided to become a game warden, your thought was kind of what most civilians think, which is that you'd be in the woods, probably alone most of the time, dealing with animals, dealing with people hunting and fishing. Did you have any idea that that side of it, that criminal justice side of it would be there? And what was your reaction once you realized that is the job?

I really didn't. And of course, being young, I mean, that was that was the exciting part of the job. Wow, this is cool, you know, and getting involved with pretty major incidences and being part of it. And just, you know, when something bad happens and it's over the news and you're like, wow, I was there, I was helping fix that problem. So that was kind of exciting. Yeah.

And, you know, it was one of the things I really pride myself on was being the go-to guy, you know, and for many, many years in my department, I was the go-to guy when disaster happens. My command staff was calling me to be part of these specialty teams to help in these, you know, stressful, very dangerous situations. And I think in

inside that 20 years, I, I, I probably saw it as much as any game more than if not a lot more than most, you know, just because of my specialties and what, you know, kind of how I carved out my career and some of the things I went after personally. Yeah. You talk about your specialties and you alluded to it earlier. So, you know, you didn't realize you'd be around so many dead people, but,

I know this because of your chapter in the book and the conversations we've had, but becoming a member of the dive team, you kind of say it in terms that make it really hit home, which is you don't find a lot of people alive underwater. And so what made you decide to do that, and what was the experience of doing that like? Well, a few things. You know, I mean, of course, when I wanted to be a game warden,

you know, 21 years ago, a thousand people would apply for 10 jobs or five jobs or whatever their openings were. So it was a very tight pool. You really had to be, you had to set yourself apart from everybody else. So as a young man kind of going through college and getting things, I looked at all the specialties of the warden service and I tried, I tried to get experience in all that business.

before I became a game warden. And, uh, so I, I had gotten my open water certifications to dive and I had done a bunch of diving. Um, matter of fact, I even was trying to get my pilot's license and doing some flying on my own just to really get myself to stand out to get the job. And, uh, of course, once I got the job, I, um,

you know, it was just a natural gravity, like, Hey, you know, I'm a diver. I should join their dive team. And so they had a couple openings pretty early on in my career within the first year. And I was selected to join the team and didn't really know what I was getting into. But, but the, the dive team was kind of like the elite of the warden service. You know, they were,

you know, because of what they dealt with and stuff. And they, you know, and it was a real huge honor to be part of that team and get selected for that. And then, then be asked along the way to, you know,

you know, do the underwater photography. You know, we've had some pretty major crime, you know, boat accidents where, you know, some serious charges, we, you know, manslaughter charges are coming out of this. So, you know, having accurate measurements and underwater, you know, be able to create an underwater scene for a courtroom somewhere was, was a big deal and be able to photograph it. So that a jury somewhere could, could see what, what was really happening. Right. Um,

So it was a huge honor to do that and be part of that team. And it was a huge decision to leave that team when I decided to move on. But, you know, and it's a chapter in my life that I really, really am proud of, and I miss it. I'm still very good friends with many of those members of that team that, you know, even today we talk weekly. Yeah.

You know, you just brought up something I want to ask you about. So like I was an EOD tech, a bomb tech, and a lot of people were like, why would you want to do that? And the truth is, I didn't necessarily want to take bombs apart, but I wanted to be useful. I wanted to be of service. I wanted to have a job that mattered. And I was young. I was a guy and I wanted to be elite. I wanted to do something everybody else couldn't do. And you just talked about how the dive team is elite.

So the juxtaposition that comes from this, and Tommy World, it's also in the book, he's on the SWAT team. He talks about this too. It's this idea that

The motivation to do the job is, hey, you get a chance to work harder, to learn more skills than most people have, to do something that is absolutely necessary that most people can't do. But then the price of doing it is you're doing a job that's very difficult, very demanding, oftentimes ends in tragedy, puts you at a higher risk of getting hurt.

And, you know, as you have kids and get older, does that change? Does it like how did you experience that? Because I know eventually you left the dive team because it did get difficult. But what was that what was that process like going from, hey, this really sucks, but it's worth it because the mission's worth it, because it makes me special to, hey, you know what? It's time to hand this over to somebody else. Yeah, it was for me. I mean,

You know, I had an incident when I was diving where I had come out. I was in the water too long, and I came out of the water, and I passed out, and I got severely hypothermic and stuff. And me and my wife was trying to have kids, and it made her very –

She didn't like me diving, right? It made her uncomfortable. You know, she worried enough about just me going to work every day, but going and doing that was just like tenfold more dangerous. And she would never...

She would never even hint to tell me, like, oh, you can't do that. I don't want you to do that. She'd just take that stress on herself. But I saw it, and I noticed it. And I didn't think that was quite fair. So when, you know, I ended up, you know, getting what I thought was going to be my duck hunting buddy, a black lab. And she was extremely intelligent. And I...

and as I taught her how to hunt and we work hunting together and stuff, and she picked things up so quickly, I thought to myself, man, maybe we could, maybe this dog is meant to do more. So I introduced her to our canine team. And, um, and so in Maine, you can only have one or the other. You can't, you can't be a canine member and a dive team. You had to choose. And, um,

And somewhere in there, I thought, well, this is better for me, for my family. And it'll give me an opportunity still being equally as important. And it'll give me an opportunity to potentially find someone alive someday. And, um,

And so that, that was when the canine team evaluated my canine Tundra and said, man, this dog's, this dog's something we'd love to have her on the team. And they offered me the position. That's when I had to make that real hard decision, like to leave the dive team and move on with, you know, with the canine team. And that's kind of what got me to leave the dive team. I love how you say that, you know, it's like search and rescue is,

Or rescue and recovery. And it's like, you know, as a diver, you're basically always recovering. You're not rescuing. And then...

You know, the examples you gave me with Tundra or Tunny, as you called her, is like one example after the other of finding someone that's got some version of like dementia or finding someone that's lost in the woods and elderly or finding someone that's trapped halfway in the water. And it's just finding people alive, finding people alive, finding people alive.

What were those years like as opposed to the years diving? Tell me all about Tundra because, I mean, it just sounds like such an amazing dog, but what was it like for you as well? Well,

I mean, like you said, when, when I left the dive team, I, I was like, you know, I had a lot of doubt. Did I do the right thing? Was this the, you know, should have I done this? Some of the members of the team were disappointed in me and they expressed that disappointment. Like, you know, like, Hey, we're a brotherhood. How can you leave us? You know? And, um, and, and, and, and, and that meant a lot to me. I really took it hard. And, um,

When I started working Tundra and getting her out in the field, I mean, her first call said it all to me. You know, we responded to a elderly man that had dementia. It was down East Maine. I'm not going to try and give you the name of the town. I could if I thought long enough, I would figure it out for you. But it was down in Maine. And and.

You know, I was showing up late because I'm a brand new handler, right? You know, it's just, you know, hey, the powers to be call the experience, right? Because they want to end this quick. And, you know, but it had gone on for a couple of days. So I was called in as kind of like reinforcements. And I remember the head of our canine team said, just go back to the house and exercise, Tony, get the jitters out of her and stuff. And then...

Uh, we'll get you an assignment. Well, that behind the house had already been searched. And, um, and, and it's funny because Tundra could read, like she knew when we were training and she knew when we were, it was game time. She just, she could read that. She could read my body language. She just knew. And, um, I took her out and went out behind the house and I was wanting her exercise and, and, and, uh,

you know, she was just a little short legged black lab and she spun in a circle and took off. And, and I went, Whoa, that's not normal. So I chased her and, and she found him. And she, and what had happened is he, that when they were building the road, they pushed this rock back and it created this cavity under the rock. And that guy had fallen essentially buried alive under that rock. And, and,

I remember getting to him and she's standing on this poor guy's chest, barking at him. And I had to, and all I, and I'm curled on my belly and under this rock to see, and I pull her out and I had to pull him by his boots out and he, and he's shaking kind of uncontrollably. And, and of course I make the call and we get to rescue there and all that stuff. And we get them in the ambulance and about 20 minutes later, he's sitting up looking around like,

you know, he's, he's going to be fine, you know, and his son who was still, you know, very senior to me in his sixties, I would guess a very prominent businessman in the area, um, walked up to me and he could not talk tears running down his face, but he shook my hand and he patted Tony. And I knew that that, that moment that,

I hadn't made the right decision to leave the dive team. And I remember thinking about that. And that feeling of finding someone and saving someone's life like that, not very many people in this world can say they've done it. And it's a feeling that, I don't know, you just can't describe. And it's a huge honor and a huge amount of pride that goes into that. You may get a little excited when you shop at Burlington.

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We've talked about your career, the different things you've done, and we could talk for another hour of the examples. But just kind of to wrap this up,

Do you think the people in this country, you know, oftentimes when I talk about the book Behind the Badge and the concept of it in general is that we walk outside and we have this blind faith that somebody will be there if things go bad. If we get in a car wreck, an ambulance will show up. If somebody tries to rob us, a police officer will be there. If our house catches on fire, a fireman will be there. Do you think people have a proper or even a decent perspective and appreciation for what you guys do?

I think the outdoors...

people of the world, the ones that hunt and fish, the people that are recreating out there. You know, we are the fun place. You know, we do come along when it's the 4th of July and someone's had too many drinks and we arrest them. And no one likes that game, Morton, right? And I understand that. But it's important because those incidents are what ends in tragedy. And that's what we're trying to prevent. But when they go out hunting,

And they take a wrong turn or, you know, they just get lost or they're

Mom or dad, you know, they're just in denial that they're aging and dementia or Alzheimer's setting in and they wander into the woods, you know, or they go hiking. You know, we just had two hikers in Maine that come up from New York and they hiked into the top of Mount Gatot and both perished because they weren't prepared for that, right? I mean, we're there to help. We're there to help.

you know, when tragedy does strike that, that we are the ones that go and pick those pieces up and help, you know, that dive team, it was all about closure. It was all about giving families closure. You know, when someone goes lost or missing, you know, where, where are the experts? We're the ones that goes in and, and, and recovers them or brings them home alive. And I'm not sure. I think people in, in,

local people know we're there for them. But I think a lot of people go to this state and are very unaware of who we are.

Well, Jeremy, doing this interview, just getting to know your story so much more than the hunting trip we shared together, it really changed my entire perspective. And I've hunted for a couple of decades. I had no idea the work that you guys do and how important it is and how often you save people's lives, not just, like you said, get on to them for risking their life being stupid.

I can't thank you enough for the work you've done, for the career you've had. You're going to continue to be a buddy. You've wrapped up your time as a game warden. I'm excited to see what's next. I know you're working on a couple of things, but I can't thank you enough for being a part of this and for letting me interview you today.

Well, I appreciate you taking the time and I really, really appreciate you letting me be part of that book. I think you're highlighting a lot of really great causes in that book. And I'm and I'm proud to kind of share my story because I'm one of many.

game wardens who are in the Northeast up here in Maine, but there's game wardens in every state. And I think they all experience what I've experienced at some point in their career. So it's nice to see someone taking that time to really highlight what, what, you know, people in every state are doing for their communities. Absolutely, brother. I appreciate you. And I'm sure we'll talk soon. All right. Thank you. Thank you.

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